The impact of international mobility to established democracies on Russian young people’s aspirations to engage socio-politically in Russia

The extant literature often frames international education in democratic societies as a driver of socio-political development and emphasises its transformative, ‘democratising’ influence on both the mobile student and their country of origin. Building on such assumptions, this paper investigates the impact of studying in established democracies on Russian young people’s aspirations to engage socio-politically in Russia. The analysis draws on data from 55 in-depth interviews with Russian students and alumni of UK and US universities. The findings challenge the widespread association of educational migration to politically developed states with shifts in mobile students’ political behaviours and their potential to bring about socio-political change. More specifically, the evidence in this research project points to the paramount importance of the sending country’s socio-political context in considering the linkage between student migrants’ democratic socialisation abroad and ambitions to exercise political agency. The unfavourable political environment in Russia discourages young people from engaging in political activities, and their priorities lie in the private sphere. Only a small minority admitted the influence of mobility on their current or potential future political participation. With regards to intentions to get involved in social/civic initiatives, international mobility does seem to have certain influence on Russian youth. Such aspirations were usually manifest in envisaging small-scale and non-confrontational projects in the fields of education, recycling or volunteering.